Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $367.83.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $374.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Eaton in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $335.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $132.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $356.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $326.88. Eaton has a one year low of $231.84 and a one year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Eaton will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Breakwater Investment Management raised its holdings in Eaton by 1,560.0% in the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the second quarter valued at $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Company Profile

Eaton Corporation plc operates as a power management company worldwide. The company’s Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segment provides electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality and connectivity products, wiring devices, circuit protection products, utility power distribution products, power reliability equipment, and services, as well as hazardous duty electrical equipment, emergency lighting, fire detection, explosion-proof instrumentation, and structural support systems.